HO CHI MINH – The lion on his chest is a symbol of power these days. The Vietnamese player Thanh Tu Nguyen Tran, mostly known as TTT, is showing his feared claws at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City. His victims included Eddy Merckx and Peter Ceulemans. The Vietnamese star here, in his striking dark yellow outfit, not even high on the rankings (41), is one of the undisputed revelations of this World Cup in his country. With his score in the first round of the main draw, the Vietnamese lion was tameable for anyone. He was ruthless towards Peter Ceulemans in the final match of the group. TTT set the tone with a run of 17, took a 30-6 lead, and finally won 40-15 in 11 innings. The final average with 4 match points: 2.790!!!
In the Vietnamese billiards arena, top players were vulnerable and outsiders were given unexpected opportunities. Jérémy Bury started this Friday with a top match 40 in 9 innings (4.444 average), but was virtually no match for Marco Zanetti and Nick Polychronopoulos in the subsequent matches. The elimination was therefore inevitable. Myung Woo Cho, leader in the rankings, had a flawless start and was a cool finisher thereafter, just like Marco Zanetti, TTT Nguyen and Hong Chiem Thai.
Four players high in the rankings ended up in the lower ranks: Haeng Jik Kim, Sameh Sidhom, Quyet Chien Tran and even Jérémy Bury were knocked out of the tournament.
The overviews of the 8 groups:
Group A:
Myung Woo Cho made a power grab that was never in danger. With three victories, he was unassailable; his best match was against former world champion Phuong Vinh Bao, 40-36 in 17 innings. Sung Il Jeong and Abdin Mohamed were no match for their opponents, with averages just above 1.
The standings in Group A:
1 Myung Woo Cho 6-2.222-13
2 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1.705-10
3 Sung Il Jeong 2-1.141-7
4 Mohamed Abdin 0-1.242-6
Group B:
The Vietnamese player Hong Chiem Thai had a slight hiccup against Dick Jaspers, drawing 40-40 in 27 innings, but then won his two matches and became the group winner. Dick Jaspers started with two draws and had to fight for a spot in the knockouts in his final match. The Dutchman needed one carom against Ja In Kang for 40-40 in the final turn; against Thai, Jaspers had to score three times in the final turn for a draw. The victory in his final match against Van Tri Nguyen was sufficient and dethroned Ja In Kang following his remarkable tournament: with a fantastic average of 2.355, Kang finished third, thus being eliminated from the rest of the tournament.
Standings in Group B:
1 Hong Chiem Thai 5-2.033-9
2 Dick Jaspers 4-1.714-8
3 Ja In Kang 3-2.355-11
4 Van Tri Nguyen 0-1.087-5
Group C:
The powerhouse TTT Nguyen left the arena as a great triumphator on this day with 32 world-class players. The highest average and the highest run make him a contender for the next rounds. Eddy Merckx also fell victim, but advanced to the next round with two victories over Ceulemans and Karakurt and an average of 2.
Standings in Group C:
1 TTT Nguyen 6-2.790-17
2 Eddy Merckx 4-2.017-10
3 Peter Ceulemans 2-1.571-8
4 Omer Karakurt 0-1.419-13
Group D:
The demonstration in his final match against Roland Forthomme gave Marco Zanetti's brilliant performance the shine it deserved. The 40-18 in 12 (3.333) was magnificent. The Italian had an average of 2 with 3 wins; in the final round, Nick Polychronopoulos defeated Jérémy Bury, allowing him to advance as runner-up. Bury's magnificent start, with 40 in 9, was overshadowed by two losses in his subsequent matches. The Frenchman shone too briefly to compete in the round of the best 16.
The standings in Group D:
1 Marco Zanetti 6-2.000-7
2 Nick Polychronopoulos 4-1.628-8
3 Jérémy Bury 2-1.709-12
4 Roland Forthomme 0-1.325-5
Group E:
Tayfun Tasdemir made his second slip-up against Haeng Jik Kim in his final match. Therefore he was overtaken for first place by Tolgahan Kiraz, who won against Yavuz (40-35 in 21) after his draw against Tasdemir and seized the leading position. Haeng Jik Kim disappeared with only 2 matchpoints.
Standings in Group E:
1 Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1.621-11
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-1.714-17
3 Tarik Yavuz 2-1.625-9
4 Haeng Jik Kim 1-1.545-7
Group F:
The 17-year-old Do Hyeon Kim is the revelation of this World Cup. He is jointly leading his group after a victory against Jose Juan Garcia and a well-deserved draw against Quyet Chien Tran. Than Luc Tran was the leader on average and even bettered by the win on young Kim in his last match (40-14 in 18). The home crowd lost his favorite player in the last round. Quyet Chien Tran was beaten by Garcia in the last match (40-38 in 26) and eliminated.
Standings in Group F:
1 Thanh Luc Tran 5-2.000-11
2 Do Hyeon Kim 3-1,220-10
3 Quyet Chien Tran 2-1,552-16
4 Jose Juan Garcia 2-1,480-9
Group G:
Jung Han Heo was the dominant player but lost his match against Berkay Karakurt in the final session 40-17 in 16 innings. The Turk found his great form just in time and saved his tournament. He finished second because Sameh Sidhom defeated Gökhan Salman in the final round 40-9-26 in 27 innings.
The standings Group G:
1 Jung Han Heo 4-1.979-14
2 Berkay Karakurt 4-1.929-10
3 Sameh Sidhom 2-1.727-9
4 Gökhan Salman 2-1.532-16
Group H:
The top match between Frédéric Caudron and Martin Horn was won by the German, who claimed the top spot with his 40-36 victory in 26 innings. Tension rose in that final round, as Mikaël Devogelaere also suddenly had chances. The Frenchman however lost to Arnim Kahofer 40-39 and was therefore left with 2 match points. Horn and Caudron pass tot he best 16.
The standings in Group H:
1 Martin Horn 4-1.550-13
2 Frédéric Caudron 4-1.506-9
3 Mikaël Devogelaere 2-1.413-7
4 Arnim Kahofer 2-1.209-9
The matches in the best 16:
TTT Nguyen-Do Hyeon Kim
Martin Horn-Eddy Merckx
Thanh Luc Tran-Dick Jaspers
Hong Chiem Thai-Phuong Vinh Bao
Marco Zanetti-Nick Polychronopoulos
Tolgahan Kiraz-Tayfun Tasdemir
Jung Han Heo-Berkay Karakurt
Myung Woo Cho-Frédéric Caudron.